Lighting Up The New Year!

Every year, when the calendar season starts fresh, I get super excited. It’s like the slate is wiped clean and I have a fresh start. Then I ruin it by creating all these lists of things I want to do. Lose more weight, eat healthier, read my Bible more, exercise more. Usually three weeks or so into the New Year, I’ve already failed at most of my resolutions.

It’s exhausting wanting to be more and feeling like you are never enough.

Can you relate at all?

What if we stopped wanting to do more? And just became satisfied filling ourselves up with Jesus? What if He was more than enough?

Last weekend, I found myself up before sunrise filled with anxiety over my to-do list. I sat in the quiet of my home, pondering the year ahead, with a warm cup of coffee in my hand. As I rested in the presence of the Lord, the sun began to rise and I heard Him whisper “I am more than enough.”

The sun was rising, signifying a new day. A glimmer of sunshine on the newly fallen snow caught my eye and it gave me hope for a year filled with endless opportunities to choose good over evil; kindness over crudeness; faith over self.

My unofficial to-do list went right out the window as I began to reflect on what light signified in our faith journey this year.

I was reminded of Matthew 5: 14-15 –

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.”

Endless opportunities await for us to be the light in a dark, fallen world this New Year.

We have to-do lists a mile long and more than enough to keep us occupied and stressed. But we need to stop and reflect:

Just as the moon reflects the glory of the sun, we must let the light that is Jesus shine in us as we go throughout our busy day.

How will you let God’s light shine brightly in your relationships, attitudes and work this year?

Let your light shine in your home this new year. More hugs, less anger. More smiles, less tears. More patience, less anxiousness. More kindness, less complaining.

You are a light to this dark world. Let the brilliance of Jesus shine through YOU!